Page 21 of Our Last Resort

“It’s important.”

The deputy looks over his shoulder at his colleagues, who are still busy examining Sabrina’s body. Does he feel excluded? Those two doing important police work, and this guy over here on tape duty. What will he tell his partner, his friends, his mom, when he comes home tonight?Someone died and I took care of the tape?

“Go ahead,” he says.

Something moves behind him. One of the two deputies is leaning over Sabrina’s body.

I’m nauseous.

“Actually, could we speak somewhere else?”

The cop opens his mouth.

“Please,” I say, “Deputy…”

“Harris,” he says. “Fine.”

He lifts the crime scene tape and steps over to my side. With a wave of his hand, he leads me to the entrance lounge. An expanse of sandstone dotted with cream-colored benches, on top of which employees have fluffed embroidered pillows in earth tones. Linen drapes separate the space from the lobby. Sail canopies, tented above us, shield us from the sun.

“So,” Harris says, wiping his forehead. “What did you want to tell me?”

“Last night,” I say. “Sabrina Brenner and her husband had a fight.”

I establish the basics, the where and when, thearound three in the morningandat the edge of the compoundof it all.

“I saw them,” I say. “He grabbed her, and—”

“You were following them?” Harris asks.

“No. Or…I guess I was. I couldn’t sleep, so I was up. I heard voices. I wanted to know what was going on.”

“Continue.”

“It wasn’t just an argument,” I say. “It got physical. William grabbed Sabrina’s wrists. And he insulted her. Called her a whore.”

Harris stands there, one hand in his pocket, the other scratching the back of his neck.

“So you heard them having a dispute,” he says.

“Saw. I saw it happen.”

This time, he removes a notepad from his pocket and scribbles a few words.

“You witnessed an argument,” Harris says. “Did you see anything else? Did Mr.Brenner strike his wife? Did things get physical beyond him grabbing her arm?”

“Wrists.”

Harris nods.

“I went back to my suite,” I say. “But there’s something else.”

“You witnessed something else?”

I shake my head.

“Just…little things. They always looked tense. You could tell she was on edge around him.”

“How so?”

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